Sensex loses initial gains,drops 123 pts in late morning trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex washed out its initial gains and dropped by 123 pts in the late morning trade due to selling pressure in IT sector on the back of lower Asian cues.

Key benchmark indices resumed higher at 19,475.09 and shot up further to a high of 19,491.60 after the government wining a vote in the Lok Sabha on its decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail.

However, the Sensex declined afterwards to 19,217.06 before quoting at 19,268.36 at 1030hrs, showing a loss of 123.50 points of 0.64 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped by 39.20 points or 0.66 per cent to 5,861.30 at 1030 hrs.

Asian stocks edged lower in the early trade as political wrangling continued in the US over billions of dollars of upcoming tax hikes and spending cuts. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and China fell by 0.06 per cent to 0.32 per cent. Key benchmark indices in South Korea and Indonesia were up 0.14 per cent each.